


Episode One: Moon Rustlers Strike Again!

by ScrappyHolmes



Series: Footlocker Fables presents: The Adventures of Nina the Space Cowgirl and her trusty steed, Diaz [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Mysterious Past, Other, Rustlers attack the farm, Space themes, Western Themes, our brave young heroine saves the day, ps everyone is a lesbian
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-02
Updated: 2015-09-02
Packaged: 2018-04-18 18:25:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4716086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScrappyHolmes/pseuds/ScrappyHolmes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Our brave young heroine begins her journey through the universe the way any troubled teen would: by accidentally finding herself in a whole mess of trouble</p>
            </blockquote>





	Episode One: Moon Rustlers Strike Again!

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and welcome to the first of what I hope will be many short stories about the adventures of a young woman and her pet unicorn on their mysterious journey through the recently settled universe! These are being written for my best friend who is currently away at boot camp, in order to hopefully provide some light entertainment. This has not been beta'd, and while I'm always open to feedback, given the fact that this is a personal project I'd prefer only light constructive criticisms, thank you. I hope yall enjoy reading this and come back for the next installments! (which will be soon, I hope!)

A red sky paints the horizon in warmth and emptiness. Where one might expect to hear the sound of chirping bugs or howling coyotes on a summer evening, there was nothing. It was the sort of calm silence that could make someone uncomfortable if the sound of gunfire weren’t the alternative. This is where she ran, silent as a dagger piercing the quiet, fast as a bullet down the flat red plains; from what she ran, no one could say but her. All they knew for certain is when she arrived.

 

~

 

“Cold tonight.” the farmer’s wife stated to no one in particular.

“Mmm.” replied the farmer, as she polished her boots.

They were both surprised when their quiet was disturbed by a sudden _SKKKKKKKKFPUHHH BOOM_

Though not so surprised as to actually move or say anything (this was, after all, the countryside) so they calmly sat and waited until-

“Um, hello?” in popped the face of an older girl, shrouded in a deep violet hood. She reached one silver ring-covered hand up to push the hood back and reveal her short black and dyed peach hair, round brown face, and devastatingly black eyes. “I think I need some help”

The farmer’s wife stepped forward “What seems to be the trouble Miss…?” she asked, cocking one head to the side.

“Nina!” the girl stepped fully into the house to shake the hand offered to her. “Well, you see my steed and I seem to have had a bit of a spill. I think he might be hurt. I think I may also owe you a new holo-fence.” Nina replied with an awkward and embarrassed smile.

“Let’s have a look see. I’m Varmetta Sinjorino, by the way. And that’s my wife, Bela.” The farmer’s wife said as she gathered the hem of her mustard yellow dress in her hands and walked down the steps to the land surrounding the farmhouse. The house itself, built 200 years earlier during the mass settlement of the Zenon Moon belt, was a small dot in a vast sea of red. Deep red dirt, bright red plants, and a sky that was pink more often than not. The moons in this belt followed a pattern, fading from one color to the next along a giant curve in the sky. From a distance it looked like a tear in the sky, peeking through to every color in the spectrum; from up close, it looked like someone spilled their fruity cereal all over a black floor; and from where Nina and this two headed alien lesbian were standing, it looked just like the surface of Mars.

About 30 yards down wind of the back door, the trouble could be seen: a large white horse, blue undertone to it’s hair, and an almost glittering quality where it shone in the sunlight, was on the ground completely wrapped up in the holo-fence projection. He didn’t appear to be in any pain, but the fence was twisted in such a way that he couldn’t move, and lying there on his side wrapped up in a glowing field of energy couldn’t be too pleasant after taking a nasty dive either.

“He seemed to have hit a big rock,” said Nina as she approached “that’s why he dove into the fence like that. I’m okay, but I think his ankle might be broken.”

At the sound of his companion’s voice, the steed stirred from its place of limited mobility on the ground and cocked his head back. As he turned past the sky, his magnificent horn was revealed in all its glowing pearlescent beauty, sparkling and changing color as the sunlight danced over it. It protruded approximately seven inches from the center of his forehead, and had a silver chain and star pendant wrapped around the base of it, coming to hang artfully over the true center of his strong face.

Varmetta was the picture of surprise, both her mouths hanging agape and simultaneously exclaiming: “That’s a unicorn!”

 

Nina looked slightly embarrassed, replying “Yeah, haha, well” through an awkward smile. She never enjoyed being the center of attention, but it was hard when your lifelong companion was an incredibly rare and beautiful beast. Still, she treasured the looks on the faces of those such as Varmetta, who perhaps had never thought they’d see such an exotic and graceful beauty in their lives.

 

~

 

Over the next half hour the two got down to brass tacks, doing their best to delicately free the poor unicorn, whose name was Diaz, from the webbed trap of the virtual fence. Turning it off unfortunately wasn’t an option due to their flock of prized mecha chickens being set free, and the recent problem with rustlers in the area. Thankfully the fence couldn’t actually hurt Diaz, but the heat generated wasn’t pleasant to the touch- and as they untangled him it became more and more apparent he was injured badly.

Finally the last of Diaz was to be freed: his front right leg. As Nina reached out to touch it, the unicorn wailed in pain.

“No…” Nina said under her breath “no, no...this is all my fault.” she mumbled dejectedly as she reached out to cradle the steed’s head in her arms. She knew she should have been more careful, and now she would pay dearly for it if Diaz was unable to carry on. Varmetta reached a comforting hand out to Nina's shoulder.

"It'll be okay kid. We can patch him up, and you can stay with us for a while, if you like." as she left to get the medical supplies, Nina quietly contemplated the kind offer, and felt ashamed. Staying for an extended time wasn't an option, not anymore. But she couldn't let them know; perhaps in the night she would find time to slip away, maybe find the nearest galactic rail car. For now she sat in the chalky red dirt, stroking Diaz's neck and patiently awaiting Varmetta's return.

 

~

 

The hours between Diaz being limped back to the barn and supper were filled with lively stories told by the two women who lived there, laughter, and the cooking up of a hearty meal with Nina's help. She felt so gracious for the time she could spend with them, and for being allowed into their home- but the lingering guilt of having to run away without saying goodbye weighed heavily on her mind.

Nina shucked corn at the dinner table and hoped for a miracle. She really felt at home here, if only for a day.

 

~

 

Finally, the meal was spread out before the three of them, earnest but garnished with care. They were all about to dig in when a loud - _BANG_ \- interrupted them.

Bela groaned: “Gall darn it, not again.”

Out the window, her wife could see large trucks peeling into the field, kicking up a balloon of powdery red dust all around them as they went, “It’s rustlers!” she hollered, as they both dove for a cabinet and produced two stun shot guns, racing for the door, Varmetta stopped to look down at Nina and say “You just sit tight darling, this may get messy.”

 

Nina shook her head, producing twin stun pistols from within her cloak: “Don’t try to stop me from helping you!” she exclaimed as she ran toward the door, as a surprised Varmetta nodded both her heads in approval of the young girl’s attitude.

Outside, the rustlers vans were circling the Farmer in a showy display of dominance, while she made fruitless attempts to shoot their tires out. The dust was getting to Bela, nearly blinding her as her shots became increasingly erratic.

“Careful!” Varmetta cried as a shot kicked up dirt right beside her foot.

Thinking quickly, Nina began climbing up the nearby windmill. Scouting the area and calculating carefully in her head, she took her cloak in hand to assist her wind control and gracefully jettisoned herself from the wire structure, unsure, but hoping she didn’t miscalculate.

Bela, still in the center of the ring, turned and looked up in shock- “Nina!”  
The girl, cloak over head, was crouched on the top of one of the trucks. She raised herself up, sweeping the hood back, and (though internally surprised at her own ability), stood surely with a haze of soft red sunlight outlining her triumphant figure. Before she could process the fact that she made the jump at all, adrenaline took the reins, and she jumped down to the front of the truck, smashing one boot through the sunroof- revealing the angry mug of a pin-headed, pig-skinned space rustler. Before he had the chance to do anything, she whipped out a single stun pistol and shot him right in the face. As he slumped over, Nina had no time to waste- she knew there could be animals in this truck, animals who didn’t deserve to be hurt any further. She jumped down through the broken glass, opening the door and shoving the tall man out, and took the wheel in hand. Breaking the circle, she began driving toward the edge of the property; the other rustler, who missed the struggle in the dust cloud, followed her. She stopped the truck abruptly and waited. The other truck followed suit, so she stuck an arm out the window and waved him up. She hoped the dust was thick enough still he wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between their arms.

As she waited, her confidence began to wane. She felt anxious suddenly, and looked around, shocked at all she was able to do. She’d never done _anything_ like this before. But her period of reflection was over- the other rustler was at the door, and she had to think on her feet again.

Throwing all her weight into it, she slammed the door into the other rustler's body, then jumped down from the truck and pinned him to the ground. He was hurt, but not knocked out yet, and struggled. Nina mustered all her strength to hold him with one arm as she reached the other back and pulled her pistol out again.

"Is that supposed to scare me?" he snarled out.

Nina pressed the gun up against his temple; "You know," she started "it's not legal- round these parts anyway- to have a gun that's set to kill."

" _So?_ " he spat

Nina cocked the gun and replaced it on his forehead, then said in a voice just above a whisper: _"I'm not from round these parts."_

He hesitated.  "You're bluffing."

"Is it worth it to try and find out?"

 

The rustler huffed angrily and rolled his eyes. "Fine. I surrender." At the same time, Varmetta approached with a length of holo-rope in hand. Nina looked over her shoulder to see the Farmer tying the other rustler up with a holo-rope too.

 

 

 Varmetta made quick work of him, and Nina tried to stand, before collapsing as her legs gave out.

"You alright lil miss?" Varmetta said in a voice laced with concern.

"Yeah," Nina managed as she stood "it's uh, it's just the adrenaline I guess. It must have worn off." That was only a half-truth. Nina was also completely shocked with herself, shocked with her actions. She couldn't believe she was capable of the things she'd accomplished just now. Could it really only be chalked up to adrenaline? She mused, wondering if she was always capable of these things, or if circumstance played into it.

Nina then wondered how many more of these circumstances she'd be running into in the future. Her old life was behind her; what was new and surprising would soon become her routine. She wondered if she'd ever be able to go back. She wondered how much she'd change.

Shaking the thoughts away, she decided to keep shoving on ahead, doing the next logical thing, which was to check if the rustlers were any good at their jobs.

Nina approached the first truck, opened the door and found nothing that could be called remarkable, only some thick holo-ropes and a dirty cage that looked like it could fit a small elephant.

Then she came to the next truck, opened it, and saw nothing- until a rattling noise from somewhere in the back of the truck caught her attention. She climbed inside, and made her way through the dark truck, until she came to the back wall and still saw nothing. Pulling out her pocketbot, she hit the home button and a dim glow diffused in front of her. Now she understood why she couldn't see anything before: there seemed to be a cage with a black sheet on top of it. The cage continued to rattle. Delicately and slowly, she grabbed the edge of the sheet and began to slowly pull it away. In the glow of the pocketbot screen she saw the glint of a thousand tiny glittery scales on a long svelte body, that seemed to be a thousand colors and none at all at the same time. The small head of the creature looked up at her, twisting it's head to the side in curiosity. Realization dawned on Nina, she had seen this creature before, once, long ago in a book about the flora and fauna of space. It was a rare creature, extremely rare indeed: the Rainbo Mambo Snake. Legend had it, the venom of the Rainbo could harm anything- however, the tears of the Rainbo could heal anything. Immediately she remembered Diaz and his broken leg, and in a flash of epiphany she grabbed the cage and went barreling toward the truck's open doors. Lifting the cage above her head in a victory stance, she proclaimed to Varmetta and Bela: "I HAVE AN IDEA!"

The farmer and her wife stared. "Does....does it involve what's in the cage?"

 

~

 

Over an hour later, they were still at work on the snake. Finally they had eaten supper at least, but still had two tied up baddies in the basement to deal with. Once they could give the snake up, they'd call the Astro Sheriff, but at until then they were trying everything they could to make the snake cry. Everything proved to be useless. Nina was frustrated and on the brink of giving up- when suddenly Bela had an idea.

"Varmetta!" she cried, "do you remember what you did that won ya the county talent show last year?"

"Oh, you're right!" she got up out of her seat and stood a few feet from the snake, and began to produce a haunting melody from her left mouth. As she picked up the volume a bit, she began to sing from her other mouth as well, harmonizing with the two and producing a sound so beautiful it sounded as if a choir of angels were in the very room with them. Nina found herself awestruck, mouth agape- when she looked down to the snake, he was seemingly overcome with emotion. She gasped, and quickly grabbed for the nearest container to catch the snake’s tears.

“Yes!” she cried enthusiastically, and ran outside in a hurry to the barn where Diaz had been resting, leg still in the splint, since the crisis earlier. She offered the bowl to Diaz and he drank slowly. Nina waited with doe eyes and bated breath, hoping against hope that what she’d heard wasn’t a glorified myth. Diaz suddenly started nodding his head, he huffed loudly through his large nostrils, eyes now sparkling. In a flash he was bucking his whole body and lifting himself of the ground with all the unbridled energy of a young foal. With one mighty stomp he knocked the splint off his leg and finally stood still long enough to let out a confident _NEIGHHH!_

 

Nina cried with the happiness that overcame her from a day conquered and hugged Diaz, some of her tears getting stuck in his coarse hair.

 

~

  
After the sun finally set and the sky faded to a rich rosy purple and and the moon filtered into the glittery star-filled sky, the Farmer and her wife stood on their porch arm in arm and watched with smiles as Nina and Diaz rode off over the prairie, over the field, and over the horizon to face new and unknown adventures.

**Author's Note:**

> all illustrations are by me; you can find more of my art at http://www.cumber-trash.tumblr.com/tagged/fruit-mart


End file.
